Once upon a time, this blog was going to be all about my pet bird, when I got one. But I never did get that bird. So, now this blog is about the beautiful, curious things that keep me in a near-constant state of happy distraction. Ironically, many people find these writings when they wonder what "peristerophobia" means. It's a fear of pigeons. I've made a bird blog after all.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Why I love Ohio.

Maybe it's possible, in some other place, to find oneself, while on the way to the grocery store for tea and chicken soup to treat an incipient cold, behind a trailer advertising therapy as one reason to love llamas. But I'm betting that it's not particularly common.

No, that's the thing: that's the other reason I titled this post the way I did: I actually *know* why those things are listed. Apparently, llamas are great as all-purpose alpha animals in herds. They socialize well with other animals (like sheep) and also will defend those animals if necessary--so they're good to put into a field with other species. I think that's awesome. I assume "driving" means that you can get them to help herd your animals, too; I'm assuming that it doesn't mean you can get them to pull a wagon for you, though perhaps you can do that, too.

I also forgot to mention that three minutes before I saw this llama truck, I also saw the three llamas who live between my apartment and the grocery store. One is a baby! I can't take their picture because there's nowhere good to pull over. Alas.

I met a llama once. It was 1984, as I recall, and it (the llama, not the year) seemed generally good-natured. Even so, I somehow always think that llamas are bad-tempered; I must be mixing them up with camels (which are generally almost as irritable as John McCain).

You should have someone (not a llama) drive you to the llama location, drop you off to take pictures, then pick you back up again when you're done.

About Me

Annie Dillard could have been writing about me when she said (of herself), "I like the slants of light; I'm a collector." Or Willem de Kooning: "I'm like a slipping glimpser." And don't forget Brenda Ueland: "I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like a child stringing beads in kindergarten--happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another." But the Beastie Boys might have said it best: "When it comes to panache, I can't be beat." There's a reason I wear a ring that says Badass.